Sicily bike rental and tours

Menu

Best of the West Biking Holidays

Posted on
by

Best of The West Bike Tour

experience the highlights of Sicily’s beautiful west coast on a biking tour across picturesque fishing villages and ancient ghost towns

West Sicily by Bike

Explore the hidden gems of west Sicily on an adventurous trip along its varied coast. Venture into the less known and hilly countryside and cycle through its villages and ghost towns that are frozen in time after the Belìce earthquake in 1968. This is authentic Sicily off the beaten path: fascinating, romantic and captivating. Take in the views of the crystal clear waters of the Med and the scent of the Arab spices in the narrow streets of Mazara’s kasbah. Cycle past sand dunes, lush vegetation and picturesque lagoons. Visit millenia old temples in Selinunte and Agrigento, stroll on the cobbled streets of Trapani and enjoy an aperitivo after your passeggiata like locals do!

Uncover west Sicily’s most enchanting corners on a tour designed by bicycle travellers and led by knowledgeable and passionate trip leaders who know their island inside out. This tour is suitable for active cyclists with a good level of fitness and who love the occasional challenge! Unforgettable scenery, ancient towns, quiet back roads and coastal rides await you!

You can choose to bring your own bike or rent one of our bikes on the spot. A standard hybrid bike is included in the tour price. If you like more pedal power to keep up with your better trained tour fellows or partner, don’t worry! You can rent one of our touring e-bikes.

If you’re not used to an upright position and you consider any bike without a drop bar not cool enough for your holiday photo collection, try our Specialized Sequoia gravel/road bike. This is the perfect bike for the job: bumpy roads, cobbled streets or dirt tracks are nothing to worry about with this steel frame road bike. You’ll enjoy it! Use our SPD/flat pedals or bring your own and we will put them on your Sequoia.

Welcome to Palermo! Upon your arrival to the hotel our trip leader will meet you to say hello and explain the tour details. Make the most out of your first night in Palermo, the nightlife is exhilarating and the street food is a must! But don’t worry, it doesn’t have to be a spleen sandwich, a panino con panelle (chickpea fritters) and a delicious gelato will do! And you’ll burn all those calories on your first ride anyway!

Breakfast, bike fitting and security check and off we go for our first stage. We cycle across Palermo’s seaside districts Arenella, Vergine Maria, Mondello and Sferracavallo with their small fishing harbours and street vendors. The route follows secondary roads and a few sections with more traffic, but once out of town, you can enjoy the spectacular sea views. Our ride continues towards the small town of Carini with its medieval castle and cobbled streets. A pleasant ride down across beautiful orange groves with dry stone walls against the backdrop of rugged mountains follows. Back on the coastal road we cycle towards Castellammare del Golfo, a famous seaside town with a beautiful beach, an impressive castle and a lovely historic centre. After this stage you deserve a delicious ricotta-filled cassatella as a dessert!

This stage starts with a nice climb to reach 340 m above sea level. We’ll stop at the view point where you can take some postcard like photos of the entire bay. We continue towards the hamlet of Scopello with its picturesque tuna fishery, cliffs and sea stacks. We ride on towards Custonaci and its marble caves and down to the coast again. The Bay of Cornino and the impressive Monte Cofano are the last landmarks before we reach Trapani. The perfect end of the day? An evening stroll through the cobbled streets and a delicious dinner.

Sicily’s westernmost tip is the mind-blowing archipelago of the Egadi Islands at a few miles off the coast and we’ll enjoy a leisurly bike trip around the largest island, Favignana. An ancient tuna fishing tradition, amazing scenery and pristine waters are only some of the highlights of the day. We’ll return to Trapani in the afternoon. If the weather conditions don’t allow us to take the ferry or hydrofoil to Favignana, we’ll cycle all the way up to the picturesque medieval stone village of Erice which overlooks Trapani and the Egadi Islands from its panoramic position.

This is the easiest stage of your cycling holiday in Sicily. Enjoy a laid-back bike tour along the flat coast of Trapani and take in the views and scents of the salt pan lagoons of Trapani, Nubia and Marsala where you can still experience the traditional salt production. Our destination is one of Sicily’s most fascinating towns, Mazara del Vallo, known for its fishing fleet, the Dancing Satyr, a Greek bronze statue found off its coast and for the strong cultural influence of the Maghreb. Meander the narrow streets of the kasbah with its colourful tiles and street art. Our recommendation: celebrate the day with a seafood dinner at the seafront.

We start for another scenic ride on west Sicily’s back roads. We cycle towards a quaint fishing village with a lovely piazza overlooking the lovely limestone bay. We’ll stop for a refreshing lemon granita or a coffee and we’ll continue our ride towards the ancient stone quarry of Cave di Cusa that the ancient Greeks used to build their temple in Selinunte. We’ll cycle past beautiful sand dunes until we reach the site of Selinunte in the afternoon and watch the sun go down over the temples and fade in the blue sea. An evening bath in Marinella di Selinunte is just what you need to relax.

This is the final stage that will lead us into Sicily’s less known hilly interior. We cycle on scenic roads among vineyards and orangle groves. We’ll reach some of the ghost towns that remind us of the terrible earthquake of the Belìce Valley in 1968. We continue our ride towards the lovely town of Sambuca di Sicilia with its Baroque churches and Arab origins.

Leave your bike at the hotel and hop on the private bus. Today we’ll visit some of the highlights of south-west Sicily and spend a few hours visiting the amazing Valley of the Temples in Agrigento. After lunch we’ll drive back to Palermo. Our adventure in west Sicily is over but there are many other roads to ride! Arrivederci!

Day 1 Palermo – Castellammare del Golfo

Welcome to Palermo! We’ll meet at your hotel to deliver your rental bike (if you booked it) and the tour information pack. After the bike fitting (for rented bikes) you start your bike tour across Palermo’s seaside districts with their small fishing harbours and street vendors. The route follows secondary roads and some sections with urban traffic, but once you leave Sferracavallo you can enjoy the spectacular sea views. The ride continues towards the town of Carini with its medieval castle and cobbled streets. A pleasant ride follows down past orange groves with rugged mountains in the background. Back on the coast you will cycle towards Castellammare del Golfo, a popular town with a beautiful beach, a castle and a picturesque centre. After this ride you deserve a taasty ricotta-filled cassatella!

Day 2 Castellammare del Golfo – Trapani

This stage starts with a nice climb to the view point overlooking the city of Castellammare del Golfo and the entire bay. Continue towards the hamlet of Scopello with its famous tuna fishery, beautiful cliffs and sea stacks. Ride on on a winding road past the hamlet of Visicari and past the Castle of Baida and follow the road to Custonaci and then down to the coast. The Bay of Cornino and the beautiful Monte Cofano are the last landmarks before you reach the coastal city of Trapani. If you arrive around lunch time you could even take the hydrofoil or ferry to the offshore island Favignana for a quick tour of the island and return in the evening.

Day 3 Trapani – Mazara del Vallo

Today you can enjoy a laid-back bike tour along the flat coast of Trapani past the salt pan lagoons of Trapani, Nubia and Marsala where the traditional salt production is still alive. You’ll reach one of Sicily’s gems, Mazara del Vallo, known for its fishing fleet, the Dancing Satyr, a Greek bronze statue found by a fisherman and for the strong cultural influence of the tunisian community. Meander the narrow streets of the kasbah with its colourful tiles and street art and try the local speciality: a spicy cous cous

Day 4 Mazara del Vallo – Sambuca di Sicilia

Today’s stage starts with an easy ride along the sand dunes and towards the ancient Greek stone quarry of Cave di Cusa. You can decide to stop at Triscina for a quick visit of the Selinunte temple and then you start your climb on the winding roads that lead you past the ghost towns of the Belìce Valley with their ruins of the earthquake. The route continues towards the picturesque town of Sambuca di Sicilia with its beautif

Day 5 Sambuca di Sicilia – Ribera

This is the toughest stage of your biking trip in Sicily with a couple of challenging climbs. A scenic ride across some authentic villages such as Burgio with its traditional ceramics and the foundry of bronze bells awaits you before you reach the farmer town of Ribera with its orange groves and friendly locals.

Day 6 Ribera – Agrigento

This is the final stage of your cycling adventure in Sicily. You’ll enjoy the sea views almost all the times on the hilly roads until you reach the access road to Agrigento. While you face the final climb to the centre you ride past the ancient Greek temples of the famous Valley of the Temples. If you’ve rented a bike or booked a transfer we’ll meet again to pick up the bikes and say goodbye. Return to Palermo by train or choose to stay an extra night to visit the archaeological site.

This tour is suitable for active cyclists. If you’re not in shape you should train in advance.

Getting There

Flights

Palermo airport (Falcone e Borsellino, Punta Raisi, PMO).

Connections to Palermo city by taxi (the cost is around 40 euro, make sure you ask for the price before you hop on), sharedtaxi (7 euro per person, regular departures), shuttle bus (one way ticket 6.30 euro, departures every 30 minutes). The train connection is currently out of service due to construction works.